The Chopin University of Music ( pl, Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina, UMFC) is a musical

conservatorium A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

and academy located in central Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe.Fryderyk Chopin University of Music
at the International Chopin Information Center

Encyklopedia WIEM WIEM Encyklopedia (full name in pl, Wielka Interaktywna Encyklopedia Multimedialna - "Great Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia"; in Polish, ''wiem'' also means 'I know') is a Polish Internet encyclopedia. The first printed edition was released i ...

History

Konserwatorium Muzyczne w Warszawie przed 1939

Named for the Polish composer

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

(whose birth name was Fryderyk Chopin and who studied there from 1826 to 1829), the University dates from the Music School for singers and theatre actors that was founded in 1810 by

Wojciech Bogusławski Wojciech Romuald Bogusławski (9 April 1757 – 23 July 1829) was a Polish actor, theater director and playwright of the Polish Enlightenment. He was the director of the National Theatre, Warsaw, (''Teatr Narodowy''), during three distinct peri ...

. In 1820 it was transformed by Chopin's subsequent teacher,

Józef Elsner Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner (sometimes ''Józef Ksawery Elsner''; baptismal name, ''Joseph Anton Franz Elsner''; 1 June 176918 April 1854) was a composer, music teacher, and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw. He was one of the firs ...

, into a more general school of music, the Institute of Music and Declamation; it was then affiliated with the University of Warsaw and, together with the University, was dissolved by Russian imperial authorities during the repressions that followed the November 1830 Uprising. In 1861 it was revived as Warsaw's Institute of Music.The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music
at Culture.pl After Poland regained independence in 1918, the Institute was taken over by the Polish state and became known as the Warsaw Conservatory. The institution's old main building was destroyed during World War II, in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war, in 1946, the school was recreated as the Higher State School of Music. In 1979 the school assumed the name: Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy. In 2008 the school once again changed its name to the Chopin University of Music.

Buildings

The main building, at ''ulica Okólnik 2'' in Central Warsaw, was constructed between 1960 and 1966. It contains 62 sound-proof classrooms; a concert hall (486 seats), the Szymanowski Lecture Theater (adapted for film projection; 155 seats), the Melcer Chamber Music Hall (196 seats and a Walcker organ sampled by Piotr Grabowski), the Moniuszko Opera Hall (53 seats), a rhythmics room, three music-recording and sound-track studios, a tuner's studio, a library and reading room, rector's offices, deans' offices, management offices, guest rooms, the ''GAMA'' cafeteria, and doctor's and dentist's clinics. There is also a music book shop and antiquarian book shop. The University also has its own

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

, ''Dziekanka'', at '' 58/60 Krakowskie Przedmieście''. The latter has its own 150-seat concert hall.

Structure

The University is divided into the following departments: * Department of Symphony and Orchestra Conducting * Department of Composition and Theory of Music * Department of Instrumental Studies * Department of Vocal and Acting Studies * Department of Choir Conducting and Choir Studies, Music Education and Rhythmics * Department of Sound Engineering * Department of Church Music * Department of Dance * Department of Jazz and Stage Music * Department of Instrumental and Educational Studies, Music Education and Vocal Studies in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

Directors and rectors

(1810–1814) *

Ludwik Osiński Ludwik Osiński (24 August 1775, Kock - 27 November 1838, Warsaw) was a Polish literary critic, historian, literary theorist, translator, poet, playwright and speaker, who also served as a minister in the government of Congress Poland. Biogra ...

(1814−1816) *

(1816–1830) *

Apolinary Kątski Apollinaire de Kontski (2 July 182429 June 1879) was a Polish violinist, teacher, and composer. He was born in Warsaw (some sources say incorrectly Kraków) as Apolinary Kątski, the youngest of five musical siblings who all used the name ''d ...

(1861−1879) *

Aleksander Zarzycki Aleksander Zarzycki (26 February 1834 in Lwów (Lemberg), Austria-Hungary (now Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative cent ...

(1879−1888) * Rudolf Strobl (1888−1891) *

Gustaw Roguski Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

(1891−1903) *

Emil Młynarski Emil Szymon Młynarski (; 18 July 18705 April 1935) was a Polish conductor, violinist, composer, and pedagogue. Life Młynarski was born in Kibarty (Kybartai), Russian Empire, now in Lithuania. He studied violin with Leopold Auer and composit ...

(1903−1907) * Stanisław Barcewicz (1910−1918) * Emil Młynarski (1919−1922) * Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński (1922−1927) *

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the inf ...

(1927−1929) * Zbigniew Drzewiecki (1929−1930) *

(1930–1931) * Zbigniew Drzewiecki (1931–1932) * Eugeniusz Morawski-Dąbrowa (1932−1939) *

Kazimierz Sikorski Kazimierz Sikorski (June 28, 1895 – July 23, 1986) was a Polish composer. His arrangement of the "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego" is currently used as the Polish national anthem. Biography Sikorski was born in Zurich, but studied in Warsaw, first mu ...

(1940−1944) *

Stanisław Kazuro Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

(1945−1951) *

Stanisław Szpinalski Stanisław Szpinalski (15 November 1901 in Yekaterinodar – 12 June 1957 in Paris) was a Polish pianist. Early years Born and trained in Russia, he would return to his homeland as it was reconstituted. Once he finished his studies in the W ...

(1951−1957) * Kazimierz Sikorski (1957−1966) * Teodor Zalewski (1966−1969) *

Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz ''Tadeusz'' is a Polish first name, derived from Thaddaeus. Tadeusz may refer to: * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish military leader * Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish writer and The Holocaust survivor * Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński ...

(1969−1971) *

Regina Smendzianka Regina Smendzianka (9 October 192415 September 2011) was a Polish pianist. Biography Regina Smendzianka was born in Toruń, and began her public performances as a child of eight surprising the audience with her mature interpretation of the classic ...

(1972−1973) *

Tadeusz Wroński ''Tadeusz'' is a Polish first name, derived from Thaddaeus. Tadeusz may refer to: * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish military leader * Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish writer and The Holocaust survivor * Tadeusz Boy-Żeleńsk ...

(1973−1975) * Tadeusz Maklakiewicz (1975−1978) * Bogusław Madey (1978−1981) * Andrzej Rakowski (1981−1987) *

Kazimierz Gierżod Kazimierz Gierżod (6 August 1936 in Warsaw – 1 April 2018 in Grodzisk Mazowiecki) was a Polish pianist. Soon after graduating at Siena's Accademia Chigliana he won Gdańsk 1964 Festival of Young Musicians' 1st prize. An intercontinental career ...

(1987−1993) * Andrzej Chorosiński (1993−1999) *

Ryszard Zimak Ryszard () is the Polish equivalent of "Richard", and may refer to: *Ryszard Andrzejewski (born 1976), Polish rap musician, songwriter and producer *Ryszard Bakst (1926–1999), Polish and British pianist and piano teacher of Jewish/Polish/Russian ...

(1999−2005) *

Stanisław Moryto Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav (Village), Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Sta ...

(2005−2012) *

(2012−2016) * Klaudiusz Baran (from 2016)

Doctors honoris causa

* Igor Bełza * Nadia Boulanger * Plácido Domingo * Jan Ekier *

Joachim Grubich Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

* Andrzej Jasiński * Witold Lutosławski * Andrzej Panufnik *

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...

* Krzysztof Penderecki * Jean-Pierre Rampal *

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

Witold Rudziński Witold Rudziński (14 March 1913, in Sebezh, Russian Empire – 29 February 2004) was a Polish composer, conductor, and author. He studied composition at the Mieczysław Karlowicz Conservatory of Music in Vilnius, and later at the Gregorian Ins ...

* Jerzy Semkow *

* Stefan Śledziński *

* Stefan Sutkowski *

Notable professors

* Tadeusz Baird *

Henryk Czyż Henryk Czyż (; 16 June 1923 – 16 January 2003) was a Polish musician with a high reputation for conducting and teaching. He was born in Grudziądz. He was also a composer in his own right and wrote a number of books which are highly regard ...

* Zbigniew Drzewiecki * Irena Dubiska *

Paweł Łukaszewski Paweł Łukaszewski (born 19 September 1968) is a Polish composer of choral music. He has won seven prestigious Fryderyk Awards. According to David Wordsworth, Łukaszewski is the best-known Polish composer of his generation in and out of Pola ...

* Witold Maliszewski *

Aleksander Michałowski Aleksander Michałowski (17 October 1938) was a Polish pianist, pedagogue and composer who, in addition to his own immense technique, had a profound influence upon the teaching of pianoforte technique, especially in relation to the works of Chopi ...

Stanisław Moniuszko Stanisław Moniuszko (; May 5, 1819 – June 4, 1872) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. He wrote many popular art songs and operas, and his music is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish–Lithuania ...

Ada Sari Ada Sari (29 June 1886 – 12 July 1968) was a Polish opera singer, actress, and educator. One of the leading coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a large, resonant voice with a clear timbre. Her career took her to the stages of th ...

Tadeusz Szeligowski Tadeusz Szeligowski (13 September 1896 - 10 January 1963) was a Polish composer, educator, lawyer and music organizer. His works include the operas ''The Rise of the Scholars'', ''Krakatuk'' and ''Theodor Gentlemen'', the ballets ''The Peacock an ...

* Józef Turczyński *

Kazimierz Wiłkomirski Kazimierz Wiłkomirski; (September 1, 1900, Moscow - March 7, 1995, Warsaw) was a Polish cellist, composer and conductor. Son of Alfred Wiłkomirski, brother of Maria Wiłkomirska, Wanda Wiłkomirska and violinist Michael Wilkomirski. Graduate of ...

* Stanisław Wisłocki * Władysław Żeleński

Notable students

Kari Amirian Karolina Amirian (born in Świnoujście) is a Polish pop and alternative singer and music producer. In 2013, she was nominated for the Polish music award Fryderyk in the category Debut of the Year. Career Kari moved to Warsaw at the age of 13 ...

Grażyna Bacewicz Grażyna Bacewicz Biernacka (; 5 February 1909 – 17 January 1969) was a Polish composer and violinist. She is the second Polish female composer to have achieved national and international recognition, the first being Maria Szymanowska in the ...

Thomas Böttger Thomas Böttger (born 1957 in Neustrelitz, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a German composer and pianist. Life From 1975 to 1980, Böttger studied composition and piano at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler", Berlin College of Music "Hanns Eisle ...

Elisabeth Chojnacka Elisabeth Chojnacka (born Elżbieta Ukraińczyk; 10 September 1939 – 28 May 2017) was a Polish harpsichordist living in France. She was one of the world's foremost harpsichordists specializing in the performance of contemporary harpsichord mus ...

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis ( pl, Mikołaj Konstanty Czurlanis – ) was a Lithuanian painter, composer and writer. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. He has been ...

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (15 February 1807 – 9 October 1867) was a Polish pianist and composer. He was the son of Ignacy Dobrzyński, the brother of Edward Dobrzyński, and the father of Bronisław Dobrzyński. Life Dobrzyński was born o ...

Marian Filar Marian Filar is the name of: * Marian Filar (pianist), Polish pianist *Marian Filar (politician) Marian Filar (6 October 1942 – 1 June 2020) was a Polish lawyer, academic and politician who served as a member of the Sejm from 2007 to 2011. ...

Grzegorz Fitelberg Grzegorz Fitelberg (18 October 1879 – 10 June 1953) was a Polish conductor, violinist and composer. He was a member of the Young Poland group, together with artists such as Karol Szymanowski, Ludomir Różycki and Mieczysław Karłowicz. Life ...

* Mieczysław Karłowicz *

Stefan Kisielewski Stefan Kisielewski (7 March 1911 in Warsaw – 27 September 1991 in Warsaw, Poland), nicknames Kisiel, Julia Hołyńska, Teodor Klon, Tomasz Staliński, was a Polish writer, publicist, composer and politician, and one of the members of Znak, one ...

Paweł Klecki Paul Kletzki (born Paweł Klecki; 21 March 1900 – 5 March 1973) was a Polish conductor and composer. Biography Born in Łódź, Kletzki joined the Łódź Philharmonic at the age of fifteen as a violinist. After serving in the First World Wa ...

Tomasz Konieczny Tomasz Konieczny (; born 10 January 1972) is a Polish bass-baritone. Life and work He was born on 10 January 1972 in Łódź, Poland. He commenced his studies as an actor at the Film, TV and Theatre Academy in Łódź. Following this he studied ...

* Hilary Koprowski *

Bernard Ładysz Bernard Ładysz (24 July 192225 July 2020) was a Polish bass-baritone and actor. He performed internationally at major opera houses and festivals, known for the title roles of Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' and Mussorgsky's ''Boris Godunov''. His reco ...

* Wanda Landowska *

Jerzy Lefeld Jerzy Lefeld (Jerzy Albert Lefeld) born 17 January 1898 in Warsaw, died on 22 February 1980 in Warsaw, was a Polish composer, pianist and a music teacher. From 1917 until World War II he taught piano at the Warsaw Conservatory. He became its profes ...

Maciej Łukaszczyk Maciej Łukaszczyk (11 March 1934, Warsaw – 4 June 2014, Poznań) was a Polish pianist. Life Łukaszczyk was born in the capital city of Poland, Warsaw, in March 1934. During the German occupation of Poland during the Second World War, he and ...

* Witold Lutosławski * Jan Maklakiewicz *

Maciej Małecki Maciej Małecki (Warsaw, 27 November 1940) is a Polish composer and pianist. He studied at the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music (graduating 1965) and the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in ...

* Zygmunt Noskowski * Jakub Józef Orliński * Ignacy Jan Paderewski * Andrzej Panufnik * Olha Pasichnyk * Piotr Perkowski *

Sergiusz Pinkwart Sergiusz Pinkwart (born 22 May 1973 in Warsaw) is a Polish writer, traveler, journalist and classical musician. He is the author of novels, books for children and travel guides, and is also a radio and press journalist and TV personality. Care ...

Hania Rani Hania Rani (born Hanna Raniszewska; 1990) is a Polish pianist, composer and singer. Early life and education Rani was born in Gdańsk. She studied music at the Music School Feliks Nowowiejski in Gdańsk and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Musi ...

Ludomir Różycki Ludomir Różycki (; 18 September 1883 Warsaw – 1 January 1953 Katowice) was a Polish composer and conductor. He was, with Mieczysław Karłowicz, Karol Szymanowski and Grzegorz Fitelberg, a member of the group of composers known as ''Y ...

* Sanah *

Antoni Szalowski Antoni Szałowski (21 April 1907, in Warsaw – 21 March 1973, in Paris) was a Polish composer. In his youth he studied violin but soon became more interested in piano, conducting, and composition. Szałowski studied with Paweł Lewiecki and Kazim ...

* Adam Sztaba * Tomasz Szukalski *

Alexandre Tansman Alexander Tansman ( pl, Aleksander Tansman, link=no, French: Alexandre Tansman; 12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of ...

Piotr Tomaszewski Piotr Tomaszewski (born 1974) is a classical guitarist from Poland. He has studied classical guitar since 1990 and has won awards in several competitions, as well as being a guest performer at festivals and events around Europe. Tomaszewski's reper ...

* Zbigniew Turski *

Eugenia Umińska Eugenia Umińska (4 October 1910, Warsaw – 20 November 1980, Kraków) was a Polish violinist. Student of the Chopin University of Music, Warsaw Conservatory. From 1915 to 1918, she was a member of the Warsaw Music Society, where she was a stud ...

Moshe Vilenski Moshe Wilensky ( he, משה וילנסקי, also, "Vilensky"; 17 April 1910 – 2 January 1997) was a Polish-Israeli composer, lyricist, and pianist. He is considered a "pioneer of Israeli song" and one of Israel's leading composers, and was a wi ...

Małgorzata Walewska Małgorzata Walewska (born 5 July 1965) is a Polish opera singer, dramatic mezzo-soprano. Biography Education Born in Warsaw, Poland, Małgorzata Walewska graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music under the tutelage of Halina Sł ...

Mieczysław Weinberg Mieczysław Weinberg (8 December 1919 – 26 February 1996) was a Polish-born Soviet composer and pianist. Names Much confusion has been caused by different renditions of the composer's names. In official Polish documents made before he mov ...

* Roger Woodward

Competitions

The University organizes the following music competitions: * the Tadeusz Wronski International Solo Violin Competition (''Międzynarodowy Konkurs T. Wrońskiego na Skrzypce Solo'') * an International Organ Competition (''Międzynarodowy Konkurs Organowy'') * the Wanda Landowska Harpsichord Competition (''Międzynarodowy Konkurs Klawesynowy im. W. Landowskiej'') * the Witold Lutoslawski International Cello Competition (''Międzynarodowy Konkurs Wiolonczelowy im. W. Lutosławskiego'')

Orchestras

The University has two orchestras: a symphony orchestra, and the Chopin University Orchestra, as well as a choir.

Notes

a Since at that time the Warsaw Conservatory was affiliated with Warsaw University's Art Department, Chopin is also counted among the University's alumni.

Citations

References

*
Home page
*

{{authority control University of Music Buildings and structures completed in 1966 Educational institutions established in 1810 Music schools in Poland Universities and colleges in Warsaw * 1810 establishments in Poland